The Calcutta High Court has regulated entry into Courtroom 5 and ordered live streaming of the TMC–ED hearing to prevent chaos witnessed earlier. The petitions arise from ED raids linked to I-PAC director Pratik Jain and alleged interference during the probe.
Ahead of the hearing in the petitions filed by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Calcutta High Court has decided to strictly regulate entry into Courtroom No. 5 to avoid a repeat of the chaos witnessed during the previous hearing.
As per an administrative notice issued on January 13, the Acting Chief Justice directed that only lawyers directly connected with the matters will be allowed inside the courtroom. This includes only the senior counsels, their assisting counsels, and the advocate-on-record appearing for both sides.
The decision was taken to ensure smooth court proceedings when the matters are taken up for hearing on January 14.
The notice also made it clear that the entire court proceeding will be live-streamed and recorded. It further stated that anyone other than the petitioners and the respondents who wishes to participate in the proceedings may do so through virtual mode.
The petitions will be heard by Justice Suvra Ghosh. The court had earlier witnessed serious disruption on January 9 when the matters were listed. On that day, the courtroom became overcrowded with people not connected to the cases.
Despite repeated requests by the court to vacate the courtroom, the situation remained uncontrollable, forcing Justice Ghosh to adjourn the hearing to January 14 and leave the courtroom.
The present dispute arises from raids conducted by the Enforcement Directorate on January 8 at the residence and office of political consultancy firm I-PAC director Pratik Jain.
During the raids, Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal and TMC supremo, arrived at the raid locations and alleged that ED officials were attempting to seize the party’s sensitive data ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections. The central agency, on the other hand, accused Banerjee of removing documents from the premises during the raid.
Following these developments, both the TMC and the ED approached the High Court. The Trinamool Congress sought judicial intervention to restrain the agency from “prejudice, misuse and dissemination” of the data seized during the search operations.
The Enforcement Directorate, in its petition, alleged interference in its investigation and sought transfer of the probe related to the January 8 incidents to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
In the ED’s petition, Mamata Banerjee has been named as a respondent along with certain state government officials. The TMC’s petition, meanwhile, has been filed against the Union of India.
In view of the earlier courtroom disruption and the high-profile nature of the case, the Acting Chief Justice ordered regulated entry and live streaming of the hearing to ensure that the proceedings take place peacefully and without further disturbance.
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